diff --git a/man/remind.1.in b/man/remind.1.in
index 6bfcf635..dcf17d93 100644
--- a/man/remind.1.in
+++ b/man/remind.1.in
@@ -3848,9 +3848,10 @@ integer.
 .TP
 .B columns([s_arg])
 If called with no arguments, \fBcolumns()\fR behaves as follows:
-If standard output is a TTY, returns the width of the terminal in columns.
-If standard output is not a TTY, attempts to open "/dev/tty" to obtain
-the terminal size.  If this fails, returns -1.
+If either standard output or standard error is a TTY, returns the
+width of the terminal in columns.  If neither standard output nor
+standard error is a TTY, attempts to open "/dev/tty" to obtain the
+terminal size.  If this fails, returns -1.
 .RS
 .PP
 If called with a single string argument, \fBcolumns(str)\fR returns
@@ -4638,9 +4639,10 @@ Returns the date as provided by the operating system.  This is in contrast to
 in calendar mode, or if a date has been supplied on the command line.
 .TP
 .B rows()
-If standard output is a TTY, returns the height of the terminal in rows.
-If standard output is not a TTY, attempts to open "/dev/tty" to obtain
-the terminal size.  If this fails, returns -1.
+If either standard output or standard error is a TTY, returns the
+height of the terminal in rows.  If neither standard output nor
+standard error is a TTY, attempts to open "/dev/tty" to obtain the
+terminal size.  If this fails, returns -1.
 .TP
 .B sgn(i_num)
 Returns \-1 if \fInum\fR is negative, 1 if \fInum\fR is positive,
diff --git a/src/funcs.c b/src/funcs.c
index 2732c93f..1c8ad717 100644
--- a/src/funcs.c
+++ b/src/funcs.c
@@ -4889,10 +4889,13 @@ rows_or_cols(func_info *info, int want_rows)
 {
     struct winsize w;
     int fd = STDOUT_FILENO;
-
     int opened = 0;
 
     RetVal.type = INT_TYPE;
+    if (!isatty(fd)) {
+        /* Try STDERR fd if STDOUT fd is not a tty */
+        fd = STDERR_FILENO;
+    }
     if (!isatty(fd)) {
         fd = open("/dev/tty", O_RDONLY);
         if (fd < 0) {